


Cantera: A Foundation Story-Part 12

by Zurrunba



Series: Cantera [12]
Category: Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Genre: Alternate Universe - SCP Foundation, Cantera, Fillia, Galactic Empire, Gen, M/M, Science Fiction, Yllul, galaxy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:15:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27975684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zurrunba/pseuds/Zurrunba
Summary: The Galactic Empire has fallen, with kings, tyrants, and other rulers scrambling to seize power in systems across the galaxy. One such ruler was the Tyrant of Fillia, who thirty years before had crushed a revolt from the King of Cantera.The neighboring empire of Yllul has invaded Fillia, taking many border planets before heading for the Fillian home world. Fearing that the fall of that planet would be devastating to Cantera, the king has sent some of his forces to defend the planet. In the meantime Moira's investigations have uncovered activities she feels require her personal attention, but discovering her pregnancy the king attempts to curtail her activities. Not long after, the queen disappears, along with the Foundation representative on Cantera. He must now choose which problem he should focus his attention on. If that wasn't bad enough, it also looked like they had another spy on their hands.
Series: Cantera [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1605262
Kudos: 1





	Cantera: A Foundation Story-Part 12

King Hiero of Cantera made contact with each ship in his fleet before they were to take the hyper jump to Rhyon. All thirty of his vessels were packed and ready. Most of them would be heading for the planet Fillia, the stronghold of tyrants going back many generations. The strange thing about it was that he wasn’t going there to wrench power from the tyrants and free his planet from the tyrant’s power, but going there to defend it against a foreign enemy. 

Rhyon would be the first step in his endeavor to accomplish more than one goal. The problem was this planet might make things much worse for him should his move against it fail. That was why a small strike force was to land there first to dismantle as much of the defenses as possible. 

“You have your orders,” the king said to the eight captains of the vessels that were to instigate his plan. “Once I have your signal, I’ll swiftly move in.”

“What of the other two fleets, your Grace?” one of the force leaders asked. “Won’t they be on us once Rhyon gets word out of what we’re doing.”

“If this goes how I plan, they won’t be able to communicate with anyone until it’s too late.” He didn’t bother telling them other reasons why those fleets wouldn’t be a factor.

The misgivings on the faces he saw were apparent, but Hiero was the king, and they would do as he ordered. They all knew that eventually another break from Fillia would be attempted and had planned these actions over several years. The details would depend on the circumstances at hand.

The eight ships jumped off toward one of the nearby systems without habitable planets. They would then jump to two other systems before finally reaching Rhyon. The actions against the planet would take place in twelve hours. Within twenty-four hours they’d know if it was successful and the king would make his move.

The situation on Fillia itself was something else entirely. Civil war still raged, even if the fighting was mostly confined to the palace and spiratic. A stalemate there could be just as bad as having no government at all. Something had to be done to restore order and direct all resources against the invading Yllulians.

His original plan had him going straight to Fillia to join with the rest of his fleet there while the eight ships were to burry themselves into Rhyon in preparation for the seizure of key locations should the Fillian rulers try to betray them when the war ended. He changed his mind when he realized that factions on this planet might have contacted Yllul to make its own kind of deal with them. Things could then be considered before deciding where to strike next. Yllul’s actions around the home world indicated that a direct attack there might not be all that the enemy had in mind.

Then Moira’s actions had to be considered. He’d sent searchers all over Cantera to see if he could discover her activities. The queen had covered her tracks well. What he had gleaned was that she’d disappeared not long after Tempus, the informal representative of the Foundation on Cantera, returned from a trip to Terminus. After discovering that Tempus was nowhere to be found either, he put two and two together. She’d arranged to be taken somewhere by the Foundation representative. This angered him to no end. He’d given her free reign to do almost anything she needed to to deal with many dangers to the planet. Since she was pregnant, she should’ve understood that she couldn’t be risked on any bombastic schemes. Now here she was running off to do something that likely would put her and their child in more danger than she’d encountered before, even if one included the attempted assassinations in Hiero’s palace just three months before.

Twenty-four hours. He would have to wait twenty-four hours before knowing what his move would be. If the planned landing on Rhyon failed, the force was ordered to cover up the involvement of Cantera as best they could. Similar to what they did after their attack on the base in the Rhea Alta system. Granted that had been an attack on an orbital base while this was a coordinated multi-faceted attack across a planet, but with so many distractions going on across the empire and the regular corruption on Rhyon, there was plenty of ways to keep official eyes going in many wrong directions.

Twenty-four hours.

Shaking his head, he turned his focus back to his defense minister on the hollo screen. 

“What of Moira? Any clue as to where she’s gone?”

“We know nothing more than we did yesterday. Other than perhaps stronger evidence that she was taken off the planet by Tempus. You don’t suspect him of causing us trouble, do you? You believe the queen left of her own free will?”

“Oh, she wasn’t forced. Of that I’m certain. There were a couple things she’d been organizing. Perhaps something I arranged forced her hand somewhere. A lot of her schemes to help deal with our predicament she’s largely kept to herself.”

“Well, you know her better than I do,” the advisor said. “She’s always been a mystery to me and anyone else I know.”

Smiling, the king said, “I might know her better than some people, but that isn’t saying much.” After that the smile left his face. “But keep looking from your end. I might have a couple people I can still talk to who could help. I know calling her father would be a waste of time. He’d never undermine what Moira’s doing.”

The hollo image went blank and he continued to stare at nothing for several minutes. Where could she be?  
_______________________

As the smoke finally settled in the Zeta section in the palace on the planet Fillia, Saldor Mesh, the head of the rebel republican faction and former minister of food and trade for the planet, looked out over the carnage and destruction of the area recently retaken. Dozens of bodies lay dead in this room that had once served as gathering hall for palace special events. It was one of the largest in the enormous building, therefore more people had been able to engage each other. His people had won, but at great cost.

“General Vino, what are the casualty numbers?” he asked the middle-aged woman standing next to him. 

“Twenty of our soldiers are dead, as are about two dozen civilians who’d come here for some kind of celebration.”

“Celebration?” the former minister asked.

“Yes, sir. Apparently, there was a gathering for someone’s birthday that also coincided with someone being promoted to the rank of captain. The attack of General Greelin’s forces took everyone by surprise. It was clear that Greelin’s forces hadn’t known about this event or they wouldn’t have attacked when they did. Thirty of our soldiers were there to meet them and held them back from crossing the room until reinforcements arrived. As terrible as this is, it could’ve been worse. Crossing through this hall they could’ve caught some of our troops between guard shifts in three other sections.”

“It looks like some of our people aren’t taking matters as seriously as they should,” Mesh replied. After scanning the room for anything else worth noting he asked, “What were the enemy’s losses.”

Enemies. It felt strange to be thinking of all these people as enemies. If he hadn’t believed in the cause so strongly, he never would’ve started this push to toppled the tyranny. Many of those he now fought he’d known almost his whole life. Memories of social gatherings, dinners, holidays he’d spent laughing together with them flooded his mind as he looked at each of the bodies being removed to other places. Most likely to be dropped in the Sargon River that ran beneath the palace and headed out to sea. 

“Fifty-eight killed, and ten of the wounded were captured,” was her reply.

At this rate half of the palace population would be dead by the end of next month. Many soldiers had come in there from the outside to join with one of the causes or other, but getting in was risky to a lot of them, as once it was known what side someone was on those watching the entrances might take them out. The controllers at the entrances fluctuated far too much.

Glancing up he noted that a good deal of fire had struck the ceiling far above, leaving a gaping hole exposing the sunlight from outside. Seeing the sunlight shining down through the gap was a reminder that there was more going on out there than this fighting across palace grounds. There were so many other things to consider. Like the Yllulian invasion and the fighting taking place elsewhere in the solar system.

“It’s too bad we couldn’t make an alliance with one of the other factions to destroy the other, then there’d just be two of us.”

Smiling, Vino responded, “Which one of our potential tyrants would you choose? And just how much faith could be put into the other side not arranging a stab in the back?”

“A man can dream, can’t he?” Mesh replied, momentarily returning the smile. Slowly it began to vanish. “Of course, it was dreaming that brought us the republican notions in the first place.”

“Don’t give up on them now,” the general replied. “Not with so much that’s been sacrificed.”

“It may all be mute if Yllul is truly on its way here.”

The two headed from the hall to the ante room that had become their base of operations. Contact with all their people from the different floors and different sections was best kept up from that room. There was only one way in, unless one were to smash their way through the steel glass that looked out to the sea that was visible from there. So far nobody had been able to blast through from the outside. This material was far stronger than most other things the building was made of.

Outside the room ten guards stood with weapons poised for any trouble. When they saw who was coming, they immediately saluted and stood aside. Before going in the general started asking them some questions about the current state of affairs in the section and gave some orders. Mesh was too preoccupied with recent events to pay much attention to what they were saying. It wasn’t until someone said his name several times that he snapped out of his broadings.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” he asked.

“There’s someone waiting for you in your office, sir,” one of the guards said. “She said it was urgent and told us to give you this.”

Curious, he took the pad from the guards. It looked to be deactivated. Then he spotted the small indent in the corner where one’s thumb print would go for recognition. Someone didn’t want just anyone knowing what was on here.

So, should he just walk in the room or should he activate the pad first? Figuring he could just activate the pad after seeing who this person was, he walked into the ante room with General Vino on his heels.

Sitting in a chair on the far side of the table sat a fairly young woman in her thirties, he guessed. Her arms were folded across her stomach as she sat slightly tilted in the chair. Despite how awkward she might look, she was obviously pregnant, the look in her eyes were those of confidence and control. 

“Who are you and what do you want with us?” Mesh demanded. “How were you allowed in here without the proper protocols.”

“Protocols are boorish and slow things down that can be done much more smoothly without them,” the woman said. “From your question and the looks on your faces I gather you didn’t look at my message I asked the guards to hand you.” 

Mesh continued to stare at the woman, conflicting emotions competing. Whoever she was, she was clearly someone with connections or she wouldn’t have made it to this room without someone notifying him first. Though he didn’t recognize her, a glance over at Vino told him that she did. 

“Moira,” the general blurted out. 

When he saw Vino reaching for her weapon, Mesh reached over and stopped her.

“Nice to see you again, general. Though the last time we met the rank was major.”

The look in Vino’s eyes made it clear the two had a history, and not a good one. She was dressed in some kind of travel’s clothes that were common and really blended in anywhere in this part of the galaxy. Her accent told him that she was from a section of the empire around Cantera, so that gave him pause. She was clearly unarmed, otherwise she wouldn’t have made it this far to see him.

“Again, who are you and what do you want?”

The snarky expression on the woman’s face swiftly changed to one more serious. Adjusting her position slightly she began. “Might I ask you both to sit down so we can have a discussion. I wouldn’t have pulled the strings I did and worked the connections I have to get her if it wasn’t urgent.”

Slowly Vino released the grip on her weapon and glanced at Mesh. Inwardly shrugging, the two sat down at the table opposite the other.

“Thank you. Just to get Mesh her up to speed, my name is Moira Tilliar, co-owner of the Tilliar trading company, and I happen to be the queen of Cantera as well.” Pointing her finger to Mesh she added. “If you don’t mind can I show you something on the tablet since you didn’t bother to glance at it before coming in here?”

After receiving the tablet back, she activated it and opened it to a screen covered with a lot of data. Data relating to Yllul and the Fillian fleets.

“We have a serious situation,” Moira began. “Fighting is breaking out across the border, as I’m sure you know. The Yllul fleet made it to this system where battle has already occurred and is now scattered across the system. We need peace here to ensure that we’re united against them.”

“And how do you plan to deal with the problem here on the planet? Are Canteran troops coming here?”

“If you’d bothered to read this, you’d know that my plan is for you to make a deal with Firon to destroy General Greelin and his disruptors.”

Both of those facing Moira jumped to their feet. Before they could start arguing Moira explained what she had in mind. With the details given the two across from Moira slowly sat down again. As things were laid out, the republicans had to admit that on their own nothing could be accomplished. The Canteran queen then explained what she had in mind to approach Firon.  
“Moira, I know you,” Vino said. “There’s other motives involved here than just peace across the Fillian Empire.”

Sighing, she responded, “Everyone has many motives, whether they want to admit it or not. Just accept that at this moment our motivations coincide.”  
_____________________________

“We found her,” said the engineer who’d arrived to report back to Counselor Tical. “She’s hiding in a secluded space where we keep discarded crates in one of the warehouses.”

“And you’re sure it’s her?” the counselor asked. “It’s not just some vagrant trying to find some place to sleep?”

“Yes, sir. I saw her myself while using a drone. We did our best to keep it from observation, but we can’t be sure.”

Tical drummed his fingers on his desk. They knew where she was, but they still didn’t understand her motives. The temptation to rush in and violently snatch her by smashing through the boxes she hid behind was strong, but there were several things to consider. Counselor Oris’ wife had left a lot of clues to see what places she was visiting and even indicating what information she was accessing. One thing that motivated her had to do with her husband.

“And what of Counselor Oris? Do we know where he is?”

“We still can’t find him, sir. It’s like he vanished after leaving his office six days ago.”

Tical stood up and handed a tablet to the engineer.

“Show me the images of the place the drone took.”

Taking the tablet, the engineer moved through the data systems until he found the connection to the drone’s collection. Then he handed it to Tical.

This section of Warehouse 20 was a mess. A place for anyone to easily hide out of sight for a time. It looked as though this area hadn’t been investigated for a long time. That was something he’d have to change. Likely he’d discover a lot of other nefarious activity. Then the image moved to a place where someone had created some kind of makeshift shelter where someone could sleep. Several cans were barely visible. After a couple minutes a figure came out from behind this shelter. The face and figure were unmistakable. The wig couldn’t hide the face Tical knew too well. It was Thelia Oris, wife of the missing counselor.

“And we still have no idea where her husband is?”

“No, sir.”

Stupid to ask that again, but he couldn’t take it back.

Glancing at the video there was another movement that came into view. Someone else was coming over to where Thelia was. A man dressed in shabby clothes came to where she was and began talking to her. The conversation lasted for about two minutes. Then Thelia handed something to the man before he headed off.

“Who’s that man?” Tical asked.

“I don’t know, sir. He doesn’t look familiar.”

“Something tells me that he’s not some homeless person who stumbled upon Thelia’s hiding place.” Tical continued to stare at the screen. Fast forwarding through more footage he noticed her climbing out of her little cave, dressed in an engineer’s outfit. Things were looking worse and worse for Alan’s wife.

“Find out who this man is and figure out what Thelia is passing onto him. Whatever this is needs to end now. Keep your eye on her for a couple more days, then I want her picked up.” Tical was about to leave when he stopped and turned back to face the engineer. “And make sure that you keep your eye on her. Make sure she doesn’t slip out of sight again.”

The counselor headed out, and the engineer got his group together to get working on the problem. Another command that needed not to be spoken was to find out where Alan Oris might be located.  
______________________

When word of Rhyon falling into Canteran hands reached the king, he immediately gave the order for the rest of his ships to move. Any on that planet thinking about resisting would be curtailed once the full force of his ships showed up. The Fillian bases and stations had been strategically neutralized. There weren’t as many possible points of resistance there than on some planets, but it was a perfect spot from which to make his move either against those attacking Fillia or any ships moving across the Yllul border to the neighboring planets. 

He reached the system after a jump to one of the systems the strike force had bounced off of. There was little point he saw in increasing the time to reach Rhyon more than necessary. The eyes of the empire were still on Fillia and the Yllul border. Neither the Sylliac or the Tyre fleets had made a move in that direction. The old junkers of the Sylliac Fleet he hadn’t been worried about, but there had been a slim chance that the Tyre Fleet could make a move. So long as Hiero’s move of his main force spent little time in the system, the commander of the Tyre would think this was just a bounce to another system. 

“Mission accomplished, your Grace,” said the first captain to check in. Each of the others chimed in with the same report. The last of the captains took longer to report. Another two hours went by without comment. He’d been told that the mission was accomplished. This captain had even said he’d accomplished his goals. This confirmation should’ve come immediately.

“Do we have communication problems with group eight?” the king asked the officer at the communication console. 

“I detect no dampers to communication, nor any sign that their systems have been deactivated. The lines are open, but no one is responding.”

Not good. If he stayed here too long the Fillian officials with eyes to see will wonder what a Canteran fleet was doing spending so much time at this system. These were supposed to be reinforcements to help those in the Fillian system, or at least to engage the enemy wherever they were to be found. Everyone with a computer in front of them was now working on locating the ship. Once it was found he’d decide what to do next.

It took another hour before they found it. It wasn’t found exactly where they expected, but it was close enough that it didn’t cause alarm. The urban area there had smoke coming out of some of its buildings. There were no flames. Those would’ve been extinguished by the end of the day when any assault was done, but it had been two days. Why was smoke still coming from there? The ship appeared undamaged from where he stood. On a whim he decided to reach out with a different frequency. It was a less secure line, but he had to try something.

“Your Grace, this is Group 8,” said an unfamiliar voice. “Sorry we couldn’t answer before, but the captain and first officer are down, and no one else has authorization to use the communication code we were given.”

“The captain and first officer are down? What happened?”

“A small group of defense forces somehow evaded our men. We didn’t realize they were there until they charged into our ship to attack us. Twenty of our people went down before we could regroup and push back. Some of our people were outside and managed to surprise them from behind just in time, otherwise we wouldn’t have anyone reporting back and the planet would be raising the alarm to Fillia.”

Twenty of them dead. There’d been sixty of them altogether. That could’ve put an end to his plans outside of defending against Yllul. If word got out the remaining Canteran fleet could’ve been attacked by what Fillia could put together, and to hell with consequences from Yllul.

“One more thing, your Grace.” The look on the man’s face was one of puzzlement. “When we looked through some of their computers, we discovered some information about a project being done through an Yllulian spy.”

“What kind of information?

“I’ll forward it to you. I’m not quite sure what to make of it.’

Moments later a lot of data was sent from the other ship. He’d have someone look this information over. Anything from an Yllulian spy could have serious consequences. 

“What’s your name and rank,” the king asked.

“Sergeant Heldman, Sir.”

“Sergeant, I want you to get everyone together and ready to move on my mark. Make sure that things are secure there. We might have to leave your ship there for reconnaissance later. Make contact with the other members of the strike force and await further instructions. I’m forwarding you the captain’s codes so that you can remain in the secure lines with the others.”

“Yes, Sire,” Heldman said. The call ended.

The king stood there thinking for a moment about what to do next. Two of his ships would remain here, hiding as best they could to hold this planet. Most of the people living on the planet would have no idea that anything had changed, and likely wouldn’t care if they did. The government of this planet had been so corrupt that change from one master to another wouldn’t have much of an effect on them. 

“You just promoted someone from sergeant to captain,” the officer standing next to him said with a smile on his face.”

“Only temporarily,” the king replied with a smile. “Though I will recommend raising his rank to lieutenant when time allows. Grij can sort it out later. I’m a bit busy.”  
Things could’ve gone smoother, but in all these were acceptable losses. He’d known Captain Lia fairly well. He’d have to mourn her later. There was too much going on. Anyone could get killed in this business, including a counselor of his and his wife. No matter what happened there was no turning back now. 

Before taking the jump there was one more call to make. 

“Tical, how are things back home?”

“Things could be better, your Grace,” was the reply. “With Thelia things are getting stranger.”

“What’s she doing now?” the king asked. “Do we know who that contact is? I want her picked up as soon as possible.”

“Understood, your Grace,” Grij replied. “At present we believe the one making contact with her in the warehouse is a local restaurant owner outside the capital. We’ve seen him show up three times to talk with her and twice she’s handed something to him. One instance we could tell that she was passing on information through some kind of device. The other it looked as though she were passing on some credits. We don’t know how much.”

She was handing credits to a mysterious restaurant owner. There was no indication that he was bringing her food to live on there, so clearly something strange was happening. Only once had they mentioned her leaving that spot. When she was followed from a distance, they were led to a hotel owned by a low level merchant family; at least low level compared to the Tilliars. Gale Iar’s credentials had been used again, this time through a mostly unknown spot through the roof of the warehouse that led to a staircase. That entrance was only used by maintenance when fixing things up there. Thelia really knew her stuff when it came to getting around.

“The amount is really superficial. It looks as though she’s either paying for information or perhaps even a ransom. Are there any clues as to which it would be?”

“Not yet. Something her actions and signals have indicated is that there’s to be an important meeting somewhere tomorrow involving this man and some others. We think we might know where it is, and maybe that would be the best time to pounce.”

“What kind of clue is that?”

Smiling, the military counselor pulled some kind of wrapper from the desk and laid it before the screen. It was a food wrap from one of the restaurants not far from the hotel Thelia had gone to.

“She laid out one of these clear for us to see from our drone’s camera. I have no doubt she knows she’s being watched. She wants us to see what’s happening there.”

“Or some trap is being set up,” the king replied.

“I doubt that, your Grace, but if you wish us to stand down on this let me know. My people are already getting into place.”

Shaking his head, the king said, “No, continue on. You’re likely right. She isn’t acting anything like Eileen did with what she’d been doing.” Giving both of them a strong glance to emphasize his next words. “If you discover anything critical let me know, and don’t hesitate to pick the two of them up if necessary.”

“Yes, your Grace,” they both said in unison before ending the connection. Now it was on to Fillia.

“Your Grace, you’re going to want to see this.”

He’d just been pressing the button to prepare for the coming jump. Turning to the tech he said, “What is it, sergeant.”

A push of a button brought a bunch of information on the screen before the king. There was a lot of it.

“Can you give me the basics, sergeant? We are kind of in a hurry.”

Hurrying over, the technician cut out a bunch of the unnecessary technical jargon so that it came out as a summary on one page.

“I thought you’d want to see this before you gave the jump order.”

Information from the Yllul spy he’d asked them to sift through. Reading the information, it started out as some basic ideas for moving ships around and noting where Fillia’s different fleets were. Then he saw what the urgent part was. Yllul planned an attack on the Duran system; the one next to Cantera. From the looks of this there would be at least forty ships going there. If Duran fell to the enemy his home planet would be cut off from his fleet until they could be dislodged. There was no going to the aid of Fillia now.

“Captain, contact the other ships and change course for Duran. I’m afraid Commander Urkish will have to fight at Fillia without us.”  
_______________________

Captain Zurx found himself back in the Gondor system and wasn’t happy about it. With the information he’d collected along with what other contacts had gathered they felt that his return there was warranted. The queen’s explanation as to why he was chosen to do this was a bit vague, but what it came down to was that she trusted him more than most others to do the kind of job that needed to be done. 

Glancing down at the briefcase he’d been given; he had his doubts as to what the queen expected of him. Yllul likely had more of a presence in the Gondor system than they had previously, even if some of their ships had been eliminated by the Tilliar trade vessels. Somehow the enemy managed to worm their way into several trading units that had little to no connections with family units. The only reason why they would do so would be because they didn’t realize the danger in affiliating themselves with Yllul. Gondor had been a quasi-independent system for nearly a hundred years. Surely it would remain so for a hundred more (or so their logic indicated). 

Now he had to worm his way into some of the circles the queen was familiar with to see how they could start unraveling unwanted influence there. Negotiating was not one of his strong points, and yet here he was doing just that. 

The battle ships he’d encountered on his last trip no longer circled the system. From what he could detect, they had docked at the five orbital stations that existed there for mostly trade purposes. (Gondor had no real battle fleet to speak of, but there were quite a few ships owned by traders that could be brought together if needed to defend the place). The fact that each of the stations had at least one battle ship in each station didn’t bode well for his mission. Any known Canteran vessel would fall under close scrutiny, if not be attacked outright. For that reason, he had been given one of the Tilliar family’s trading vessels. They might be known Canteran merchants, but a direct attack on a merchant vessel of such a group could turn a lot of those otherwise friendly to the Yllulian cause against them. 

But suspicion and close scrutiny would still be aroused. Two of the stations had been suggested to him as the best place to dock. The people he needed to speak to had their base of operations closest to either of them. It just so happened that both of those stations were among those with more than one Yllul vessel docked at it. Perhaps their enemy was making contact with the same people he was. If that were the case, other plans were given to him. None of those options would be good.

Tossing that aside, he chose one of the stations and headed in. Since Gondor was officially an open planet for trade there was no real trouble getting in. Just the usual questions about what his purpose was and a warning not to cause trouble. When docking, they arranged for him to do so on the far side, away from where the Yllul vessels were. He could hope that his vessel went unnoticed by them, but that wasn’t likely. Stop the wishful thinking.

Leaving his crew on board to make arrangements if anything was amiss, he worked his way to the shuttles that took visitors to the surface. On Gondor only their own registered vessels were allowed to physically land on the planet. Just before landing at the pad near the counselor’s house was that he was to visit, he sent a message to his ship that was to immediately be sent to Cantera. 

“Hello there, Mr. Androll, isn’t it?” a middle-aged man greeted him, leading him to one of the most luxurious homes he’d ever seen (and that included king Hiero’s palace). “Would you follow me?”

The name Androll had been chosen at random, apparently the name of some teacher Moira had been fond of in her early days. Finding out he was a Canteran captain could cause some problems.

On entering the home, he was searched both electronically and physically for anything of possible danger to the hosts. Satisfied, they allowed him through. It took ten minutes to walk him through the maze that made up this elaborate residence. After another search of his person and personal effects, he was allowed into a private dining room. (Dining room was the best thing he could think of to describe the medium sized room he was led into where four people sat behind a fancy table). 

“Welcome, Mr. Androff,” said the man sitting in the center of the group behind the table. “Sit down and have a drink. Then you can tell us what we can do for the House of Tilliar.”

“Thank you, Mr. Urant,” Zurx replied before sitting down and pouring a drink. This was one of the risky parts of the visit. If he didn’t accept a drink it would be seen as an insult to the host (that was part of Gondor tradition), but it wasn’t unheard of for a visitor to be poisoned if seen as a potential threat. Deciding to risk it, he poured a glass of one of his favorite vintages native to the planet and took a sip. Very good, and definitely watered down.

After another sip, he began, “My employer has reason to believe that our trade interests on Gondor may be threatened by the arrival of interlopers from Yllul.” He topped it off by leaning back to take a larger gulp. This was really good, and so far, no ill effects.

“Is that so?” the man replied. “What does that have to do with me or the interests I represent?”

“There’s nothing as of yet to indicate that you or your clients are directly involved, but we are interested in knowing where people associated with the trade conglomerates stand when new players make their ways onto the scene.”

The man’s face was almost impossible to read. He was all smiles and friendly, but something was definitely underneath his facade. Zurx had his briefcase on the table, along with a bag of computer chips connected with several thousand credits to be used if needed. The bag was drawing a lot of attention from the planet magnate. 

The two of them continued to speak in vague generalities, dancing around the topics with only hitting along the edges of the topics. This was the way things were discussed on Gondor. Moira loved this kind of sparring and navigating around things until she caught her prey in a trap they hadn’t realized was closing in on them. Zurx hated this nonsense, but he knew he had to play the part until he knew what clues he fight snatch onto. 

At one point he opened his briefcase to hand a tablet over to Urant to have a look at the information Moira had asked him to give. Looking over the information, the magnate read the screen for a couple minutes before the smile on his face suddenly dropped. Anger started to show on his face. That was a bad sign. The only thing on there that would cause such a thing had to do with the Tilliars and their actions against some houses they knew were assisting Yllul. Slowly Zurx began pulling out some coin shaped tokens from the briefcase and started to stack them.

Urant jumped to his feet and pushed a button on his side of the table. Moments later several guards came in, some joining him while two stood behind Zurx’s seat.

“You play the game fairly well, Mr. Androll.” The way the magnate said the name made it clear that he knew that wasn’t his real name. “I think it’s time we sent a message to your mistress, and queen I believe. Something that makes it clear where we stand here.”

“What kind of message would that be.”

At that moment five more people entered the room. Two of them dressed as dignitaries of Yllul, while the others were clearly officers in Yllul’s navy. No possible misunderstandings here.

“I’m thinking your body in your broken ship sent adrift to the Canteran system. Of course, by the time it gets there Cantera itself might have many other problems of its own.”

Captain Zurx remained where he was, doing his best not to show any emotion. These next few minutes were crucial. Turning to the Yllul official he asked, “So how long has this man been a puppet of yours?”

That caused an angry reaction that might’ve gotten more heated if the Yllulian hadn’t give a signal. The one addressed then responded, “We have simply come to an agreement for mutual advantage. We’ve decided that with the imminent demise of Fillia, and therefore Cantera, it’s in our best interest to come to an understanding now.”

“Interesting,” the captain said. “You know for a fact that the empire if falling? I hadn’t heard that.”

Glancing around he saw that among the military personnel one of them held the rank of marshal, which there were only three on Yllul. The two non-military people held high rank, one being an ambassador and the other being a member of their royalty (as those on Cantera referred to them. They did inherit their titles). From the look of him he was very important. They had deemed in necessary to send someone of that standing to this meeting.

There wasn’t much else for him to say to these people. He’d found out what he needed. His next actions would make it clear to those on Cantera what the findings of the inquiry were. With his left hand he finished stacking the tokens until they snapped into place.

“I suppose my offering of the credits I brought here won’t save me from the fate my Gondoran friend has indicated?”

Smiling, the ambassador replied, “We don’t wish to interfere with internal affairs of our business partners unless absolutely necessary. That sum really won’t account for much all things considered.”

Nodding, Zurx glanced around the room again. He hoped that his crew had done what he wished despite what his final orders were. When they’d agreed to this assignment from the queen, they knew that they might not be coming back. Should the worst-case scenario happen, there was one last thing for him to do. 

With the rod he now held in his hand he pushed in on the side, activating several devices that had been placed all along the docking areas up on the station their ships was at. The signal he received in his ear piece confirmed the explosion that would later be known to have destroyed half the station, along with the two Yllul vessels there. He then turned it to another button. Those in the room realized too late what exactly Zurx was holding. The marshal reacted fasted to try to take the device from his hand, but was too late. The next explosion immediately incinerated everything in that room and destroyed at least 80% of the magnate’s palace. This caused shockwaves throughout the planet that would have repercussions for decades to come.

Here ends part 12 of Cantera: A Foundation Story


End file.
